Does high cholestrol cause higher systolic and diastolic numbers?
not definite, but the answer is yes.
when the cholesterol lined with the arteries, and if the arteries don't stretch, the heart must work much harder to make blood move. the blood squeezing through a walled arteries tend to flow faster and create a greate pressure. therefpre people with a lot of cholesterol lining their arteries usually have high blood pressure.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/327908/high_cholesterol_may_lead_to_high_blood_pressure/index.html?source=r_health
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3036098